To achieve an estimated savings of $500,000, Isle of Wight schools outsourced their custodial services to Tennessee-based SSC Service Solutions, the story stated.

According to the story, though the district did require SSC Service Solutions to offer jobs to the 44 district custodians, it did not stipulate any provisions for wages or benefits.

Because some of the custodians lost upwards of $5 an hour with the switch, the district chose to spend roughly $92,000 to increase the custodians'' wages $1 an hour, the story noted.

Patricia Hunter, a custodian at Carrollton Elementary School who was making $12.86 an hour before the switch, said: "It''s going to be hard because my health insurance premium will be almost tripling to $140 per month."

The school board did not do ample research before taking such a dramatic step and should have spent more time discussing proposals taking a closer look at the effect outsourcing would have had on employees, the story added.